September 29th

You’ve been waiting for the HD release of Star Trek: The Next Generation to come out for what seems like forever. And we’ve been waiting with you since we reported on it in August and earlier this month . We’re excited to tell you that the 3 episode (yes, it’s not touted as 4 episodes any more…they are now counting “Encounter at Farpoint” as a single episode) Blu-Ray, The Next Level, will be out on January 31, 2012. This is set includes “Encounter At Farpoint”, “Inner Light” and “Sins of the Father.” The full first season is slated to arrive in 2012, with the rest of the series to follow. Here’s the official trailer for the Blu-Ray release.CONTINUE READING >>

September 27th

We fully admit that we love Voyager. In fact, as we mentioned recently, we've been watching Kate & the crew almost exclusively since its recent addition to Netflix. Kate Mulgrew is an amazing captain, Tuvok an awesome security officer, and Neelix is one fine Talaxian. We had the honor of seeing Ethan Phillips up close and personal at last year's Starbase Indy and he was a riot. Let's just put it this way, Ethan loves jokes. Old, new, clean, dirty, he's an equal opportunity jokester and he's freakin' hilarious. So, it's no wonder that in a recent interview with The Morton Report, Ethan revealed that he wished Neelix had "developed more of an outlandish sense of humor". We know that some of you out there aren't big Neelix fans, but as Scarlett Pomers once said; how can you hate big bird?CONTINUE READING >>

September 26th

We have to admit that we're big fans of CBS's hit comedy The Big Bang Theory. What makes the show that much more awesome (how else can you describe it?), is the regular occurrence of Star Trek guest stars. I mean, who doesn't love to the see the likes of Wil Wheaton, George Takei, & LeVar Burton on the small screen. Now we can add Brent Spiner to that list. Brent will be appearing along with Sheldon's nemesis "Evil" Wil Wheaton on October 13th.CONTINUE READING >>

September 24th

We all know about Geordi’s visor and Picard’s heart. Compared to the devices we have now the sci-fi versions are light years ahead…or are they? Thanks to a recent breakthrough, machines that directly link to living things (i.e. humans) could become a reality. All this fabulous new science has the potential to lead to super cool ways of repairing humans who need it. Now…how to keep it out of the Borg’s hands…hmmmm?...

Devices that connect with the human body’s processes are being explored for biological sensing or for prosthetics, but they typically communicate using electrons, which are negatively charged particles, rather than protons, which are positively charged hydrogen atoms, or ions, which are atoms with positive or negative charge.

“So there’s always this issue, a challenge, at the interface – how does an electronic signal translate into an ionic signal, or vice versa?” said lead author Marco Rolandi, a UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering. “We found a biomaterial that is very good at conducting protons, and allows the potential to interface with living systems.”CONTINUE READING >>

September 23rd

Star Trek Online Executive Producer Dan Stahl has thrown in the proverbial towel over at Cryptic. In a long letter to the players and fans, Dan left by saying "This was a difficult decision but ultimately one that will start a new chapter for me and my family." With a little over a year under his belt Dan has overseen several changes in STO since replacing Craig Zinkievich in July 2010. The biggest news of late being the purchase of Cryptic by Perfect World as well as the new free-to-play model. On the former, Dan mentions that he's "confident that the future of Star Trek Online is secure with Perfect World."CONTINUE READING >>

September 21st

Here’s a mini Next Gen reunion for ya. Gates McFadden is directing a new play, in Los Angeles, called “House of Gold” whose cast includes fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Denise Crosby. Let’s hope that Denise’s current character doesn’t go on any away missions this time.

Gates talks about her impetus for this particular subject matter and its relevance to today’s society.

"House of Gold is a hilarious, yet scathing critique of our culture, revealing dark truths about our values, and, ultimately, about ourselves," explains EST/LA artistic director Gates McFadden, who also directs. "Reading this play returned me to my own childhood. Like the character in the play, I was the ‘pleaser' child-performer. As an adult, my role on Star Trek was my parents' dream come true, but for me, it brought back a lot of childhood ambivalence."

She continues, "In American culture, reality TV is more real than real life. Parents think it's normal to exploit and humiliate their children on camera, if only to give their own dreary lives more meaning-‘my video got over a million hits on You Tube!' Children either receive too much parental attention or not enough. Something horrible in the news? Goodie! Let's get the details."CONTINUE READING >>

September 19th

From now until September 25th, you can catch Robert Picardo (the non-holographic version) in the musical Cabaret. Robert plays fruit-salesman Herr Schult in this slightly tamed version of the classic. Also starring O'Hare as Sally Bowles, Jeff McLean as Cliff Bradshaw, Mary Gordon Murray as Fräulein Schneider, and Bryce Ryness as the Master of Ceremonies. You can catch Cabaret at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA.

About Cabaret:Willkommen to Germany in the 1930s, a time of excess for those who seek out such pleasures, and a time of fears as the Nazi Party begins to take political power. Cliff Bradshaw is an American writer in search of meaning in his life, and he seeks them out in the dancehalls and clubs that make up Berlin’s seedy underground nightlife. Along his journey, he encounters the enigmatic, 19-year-old Sally Bowles who introduces him to the desperate, gaudy and haunting world of the Cabaret. Featuring some of musical theatre’s most famous songs, including Willkommen, Don't Tell Mama,Tomorrow Belongs To Me and Cabaret, this show is an enduring classic.CONTINUE READING >>

September 17th

In an attempt to start flaming troll wars on the interwebs and making geeks' heads explode, William Shatner (aka Sir Billiam. Yes were still shooting for that internet meme) posted another one of his tongue-in-cheek videos to youtube. This time? The age old battle: Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Not only did The Shat say that Star Wars is derivative of Star Trek, he went on to point out that Star Trek had better looking women and stories. He did mention though, that Captain Kirk and Princess Leia would be "the perfect union" between Trek & Wars.

"Star Trek had relationships and conflict among the relationships... and stories that involved humanity and philosophical questions... Star Wars was special effects." The Shat continues "Not only was the television show more humane and dealt with more human principles than Star Wars, but now Star Trek has even more special effects than Star Wars."CONTINUE READING >>

September 15th

Will the iPhone put Hoshi out of a job? Probably not, but it may be a good fallback in case you don’t have your own linguistics expert with you on your next international trip. A company called Vocre has come up with a new iPhone app that will translate your spoken word and your conversational partner’s, audibly, and allow you to have a two way conversation with someone who speaks a different language.

So far they say it works with any language in any country, and while that description technically doesn’t exclude alien life forms, we’re guessing that it will be a while before you can have a translated conversation with a Tamarian.

The idea is very simple—you select your gender and the gender of the person you're speaking with, along with your native language and theirs. Then your turn your iPhone upside down, say what you want to say, and Vocre will recognize it almost instantly. If the text looks right to you, just flip the phone on its side and it will actually speak what you said to the person you're talking to in their language. For example, if I spoke something in English the app could then repeat it in Spanish, French, Chinese, and more. While the translations aren't instant and you do have to flip your phone around a lot (which is admittedly a little annoying), it performs phenomenally well and would be remarkably useful as a translator in a variety of situations.CONTINUE READING >>